Man gets 45 years for girlfriend's bubble wrap suffocation

BEAUFORT, S.C. (AP) — A South Carolina man who prosecutors say killed his girlfriend by suffocating her with bubble wrap has been sentenced to 45 years in prison.

Prosecutors in Beaufort County said a jury found 56-year-old Nick Evangelista guilty Thursday of murder.

Assistant Solicitor Hunter Swanson says it probably took three to five minutes for 55-year-old Rebecca Melton to die after Evangelista put the green bubble wrap over her mouth in the Hilton Head Island apartment they shared in August 2014.

Swanson said in a statement Melton was naked and had no way to fight back.

In a confession to investigators, Evangelista says Melton got crazy and violent after she drank and he eventually got physical when they argued too.